Blood Bath
by diamondwine
Summary: Loki's reaction to an encounter with menstruation, written by request. (OFC and Loki)


Gabrielle sat with poise and the grace of a tiny bird on a stool at the island counter in the kitchen of our New York apartment. I had reached the conclusion that I was violently stricken with feelings of love for this human being. I had surprised even _myself_, considering the hell I'd gone through in the hopes of dominating or destroying the human race entirely. The beauty smiled up at me when she saw me come through the door after a long day of work. Gabrielle was the only reason I stayed here at all. I would never have come back for just anything, but there was nothing like this creature on Asgard—of that I was wholly sure.

"What are you doing up so late?" I asked quietly as I set my S.H.I.E.L.D. briefcase, a constant reminder of my atonement, on the countertop. It was nearing eleven by the time I'd gotten back. Gabrielle rarely stayed up this late, seeing as she worked very odd shifts as a nurse. She sighed as I closed and securely locked the door, taking my coat off and throwing it over the marble counter.

"I couldn't sleep. I've been feeling achy," she said, a look of moderate discomfort on her face. As I stepped further inside, it occurred to me that the window was open a crack, and the February chill wafted in, the smell of snow from outside following it. Gabrielle turned in her seat so that she was facing me by the time I made it to her. I placed my hands on her hips, and though covered in pants, she shivered. I smiled; she shivered like this every time that I touched her. Even after six months, I hadn't gotten tired of her response to me. Gabrielle tilted her head up and closed her eyes, awaiting my kiss. I giggled beneath my breath seductively before planting a passionate one on her. Her delicate hands travelled under my shirt, making contact with my stomach. I moaned into her mouth with immediate longing, but when I tried to pull her firmly against me, she gasped and pulled back in what appeared to be discomfort; her eyes were pinched shut and the nose wrinkled up in a sort of disgust.

"Gabrielle?"

She rubbed her lower back, dismissing my hands. I was just about to ask her what was wrong when she looked up into my eyes and spoke, "Back ache. You put pressure on the wrong spot," she explained. I glanced over at the window. She rarely opened them when it was this cold out.

"Why's that open? Aren't you cold, Gabby?"

She looked over at the open window where the wind blew and more snowflakes entered the apartment. I glanced down where Gabrielle's computer glowed and for the first time since I walked in, noticed a medley of round containers on the counter top. Some of them were orange, some were pink, some white, some a pale blue, some yellow. I glanced at her computer screen to see that she'd been reading about something called Ortho Tri-Cyclen.

"What were you researching?" I asked out of pure curiosity. Gabrielle shivered again and without warning, her laptop shut closed as her fingers came down over the monitor.

"I'm making a mess," she said hastily, and I had this inkling that she didn't intend for me to see anything that was sitting on the counter. She grabbed the cases there and carried them around the counter to the trash.

"I was hot a minute ago. But I'm cold now that you mention it. Close that for me?" she asked sweetly. I walked over to the window and closed it.

"I know it's late, but I made dinner," she explained and I heard the clatter of pots and pans.

"I ate out already, darling," I explained, taking off my shoes and walking back into the kitchen. Gabrielle reached under the cabinet and began putting food away in containers.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"No—it's fine."

"I know I've been coming home really late the past few weeks. You shouldn't worry about waiting up for me. I know how early you work," I explained, leaning across the counter and watching the love of my life clean up. She grinned up at me shortly.

"Gabby, you're never up this late during the week…is something wrong?" Gabrielle sighed. She shook her head curtly. I leant over the counter to catch a glimpse of all the multi-colored containers in the trash.

"I-it's fine. I just couldn't sleep. I think I'll try harder now," she said, washing her hands at the sink. As she did so, I slowly stepped around the counter. I walked right up behind Gabrielle, so that my socked toes were touching her heels. I wrapped my arms around her and she turned the water off slowly. She was just the right height so that I could easily rest my chin atop her head. Gabrielle sighed and leant back against me. I exhaled deeply, pressing my lips to her temple. As I let my hands travel beneath my least favorite dress shirt that she'd started to wear to bed, I picked up on the fact that she felt a few degrees warmer than usual. Being that I was cold by nature, she shivered habitually. The soft area of her pelvis was like a sauna when I pressed my hands beneath the waistband of her pajama pants. Gabrielle gasped again and this time begun to pull away from me.

"Is it your back?" I asked gently, although it had frankly hurt me to feel her lurch right out of my arms like that. I knew I hadn't even touched her back again, but she turned around and nodded.

"I'm sorry," I said again, pressing my forehead against Gabrielle's. To my delight, she smiled. She was _definitely_ a few degrees warmer than usual. I knew her temperature by heart, just something I'd learned from us being this close. I held her precious head in my hands and impaled her eyes with a serious gaze.

"Are you ill?"

"No, Loki," she said reassuringly. I knew she wasn't lying. But of course I knew she wasn't lying to me; I _am _the God of Lies. Despite this, I knew something wasn't quite right about the woman.

"You're right, I have to get up really goddamn early," she said, sighing, starting to pull my hands from her head. I frowned slightly. I began to feel as if Gabrielle didn't want me touching her at all.

"I'm going to go try to get back to sleep," she explained, before standing up taller to kiss me on the lips shortly. I stood in place and heard Gabrielle shut down her laptop before she walked down the hall to our bedroom. I was rather perplexed; we were generally all over each other as soon as we both came home. I tried not to worry too much over it and take care of myself. I needed to recharge. I sighed, but as I walked to the trash bin by the counter, I couldn't ignore the myriad of colours sitting there on top of everything else. I walked further around the counter top and glanced down the hall to see that the light was on in our room, but the door was only slightly ajar. I walked back to the trash and picked up one of the containers. Normally, I wouldn't have gone through Gabrielle's things, but the way she'd behaved led me to believe she was keeping something from me. I opened one of the containers to find what appeared to be another empty container inside of it, with little pill-shaped apertures made in an aluminum foil and plastic package. The days of the week spanned the circular object. To the best of my knowledge, I would have suspected this to be drug paraphernalia. A pang hit me in the chest and I felt worried. Was Gabrielle sick? But she hadn't lied when I asked her moments earlier. I stared at the open container in my hands a while. I picked up another one and opened it to find the same thing. There were no pills left in any of the containers I opened. I stared down into the purple container and heard Gabrielle gasp.

"_Loki_," she said impatiently. I jumped slightly; I hadn't even heard her coming.

"Loki—that's garbage," she said, pulling the container out of my hand and throwing it back into the bin. She picked up the open ones I'd left on the counter and redirected them to the trash. Her expression was somewhat mortified at what I'd done.

"Something's wrong with you—_tell me_," I demanded, grabbing her wrists with a pleading gaze. I was close to tears. Gabrielle started to laugh. I was utterly confused. She stopped laughing when she saw that I was really upset.

"Loki, it's just the pill. That's all."

"What? What pill? You _must_ be sick if you need medication."

Gabrielle's eyes widened, "The _pill_," she said again. I shook my head in confusion. She leant in towards me with a look of disbelief on her face.

"You don't know what that is?" she asked me.

"What pill is it? What does it do? If you aren't ill, why are you taking medications? You should have just come to me with whatever it is—I can heal you."

Gabrielle laughed again, and I felt even further confused. And then I was frustrated. I let go of her arms and crossed mine, furrowing my brows. Gabrielle stopped laughing.

"I'm sorry, Loki. You're just so cute," she said, "All they do is control women's periods," she explained. I was confused yet again.

"What's that?" I inquired.

Gabrielle's eyes widened, "You don't know what a period is?"

I shook my head, having calmed down just a little bit. Gabrielle's face flushed and she looked away from me shyly.

"I'll explain it to you later, honey," she said, "I should really try to get some sleep before I have to go to work."

She kissed my cheek reassuringly and pulled the case for her computer off the couch. She put the device away and waved at me as she started back down the hallway.

"Goodnight," she said.

I wasn't going to pester her about this pill business any further. Instead, I followed shortly after her to our room. I stripped and put my clothes in the hamper. Gabrielle was lying beneath the quilt with her eyes open. She smiled at me as I walked into the bathroom. I got ready for bed, hurrying in the shower. It had been a very long day. When I came out, Gabby was still awake. This time she was leaning against the headboard, pulling a pillow against herself. She looked rather uncomfortable. I sat down on the bed at her side.

"Darling, whatever it is that's wrong, you can tell me. I can probably help you," I said, rubbing Gabby's arm. She groaned and rubbed her middle, something part of me believed she thought I wouldn't notice, as she did this beneath the pillow.

"Is it your stomach?" I asked.

"Please, Loki. I can't sleep. Put me to sleep," Gabrielle asked. I stroked her face and she leant into it. The woman was heated unlike I'd known her to be after all this time.

"Alright," I said, "Lie down and close your eyes," I said quietly. She did as I said, but slowly, as if it pained her to move at all. I wanted to inquire more, but I'd learned to understand that Gabrielle would only tell me things that bothered her when she was ready to tell me. I felt worried, but I worked my magic, placing my hand gently over her closed eyelids, muttering a spell mother had used on me many times as a restless child at bed time. Gabrielle was out like a light. I put on some comfortable pants and got into bed beside her. I wrapped my arms around her and had the sensation that I was melting; she had never been this warm before. I checked her over and over again before turning the lamp off, only to find that nothing appeared to be physically wrong with her. Finally, I let myself sleep. It didn't last long. Gabby's alarm clock woke us both up at four-fifteen in the morning. I sat up in bed. Gabby sighed awake and turned on her side to grin up at me. I knew she had slept well, and I felt a lot better about whatever it was that was wrong with her. She waved me down, beckoning for a kiss and I grinned. I was careful not to touch her back, assuming that it still hurt, but slowly, as the kiss intensified, I made my way habitually on top of her. Our lovemaking often took place at this hour, right before Gabrielle would get up and go about her routine to get ready for work, and then I'd fall asleep again for another two and a half hours or so before I had to make my own way to work. She moaned into my mouth and pulled her hands roughly against my bare shoulder blades to let me know it was okay to bare down a bit more. She gasped into my mouth when I started to trace my hand between her legs. There was so much heat between her thighs that I had to pause for a moment. This place was always heated to me, but it felt hotter than I was used to as I let my hand sink into her panties. I felt something wet before I even entered her womanhood. Gabrielle gasped again and turned uncomfortably beneath me, her hands flying to her pelvis where she held it. A pained expression filled her face again when I looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" I leaned on my side off of her a ways and pulled my hand out of her underwear. In the slight light available, I could see something coating my fingers.

"Gabby?"

She began to pull out from under me, wincing and groaning. She turned on the lamp and as I was still looking at my hand, I came to find the fingers deep red with blood. I yelped and just about had a panic attack, especially when I pulled the blanket back to find a small red puddle surrounding Gabby's lower body. I tugged at her panties and got them off to find exactly where the blood was coming from. I screamed and Gabrielle jumped in shock. Tears flooded my eyes as I pulled her legs towards me and apart where I applied pressure, sure that she was moments away from death. Her eyes were so big and there was so much shock on her face when I looked down at her through my tears. And then she began to laugh uncontrollably. Slowly, I stopped pressing so hard against her womanhood.

"…What?"

Gabrielle sat up, cackling, holding her gut. She seemed to be in pain, despite how much she was laughing.

"Let me heal you—_now_!" I urged, stumbling out of bed and picking Gabrielle up into my arms. I nearly made it to the door when she stood up. She stopped me with what seemed like all the strength she could possibly muster, her warm hands on my chest a sudden comfort.

"Loki, I'm _fine_."

"You're not fine! You're bleeding to death," I shouted, glancing back at the bloodied sheet in our bed. Gabrielle stopped laughing again and stared at me.

"It's called a period, honey. It's perfectly natural—I'm not dying," she said seriously, cupping my cheeks and wiping my tears.

"What?"

Gabby led me back to the bed slowly. I stared at the blood on the sheets.

"That pill I told you about, that's what controls this. I've been taking it to keep this from happening. The pill contains chemicals that can stop a woman's period. It happens to most all human women every month. It's called menstruation. It's a perfectly natural part of human reproduction. I'm not dying," she explained calmly.

"What?" I asked in disbelief again. I stared down at Gabrielle. She winced.

"Then _why_ are you in so much pain?" I asked.

"It's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but I promise it isn't deadly," she explained, pulling the sheet off the bed. I stood there, trying to process everything she'd just told me. I could hear the water running in the bathroom as Gabrielle soaked the sheet. I glanced down at her blood on my hands and I wasn't convinced she was alright. But she didn't seem weak in any way, aside from the intermittent wincing. I tried to calm down. I went into the bathroom to find Gabrielle digging for something in the closet. After a minute, she put a small box on the counter and began to brush her teeth after hanging the sheet on the towel rack.

"Will you put a new sheet on the bed for me, Loki?" she asked. I stared at her a moment, the red drops on the white tile floor that has fallen from between her legs. It was dripping down the inside of her leg like a quiet stream. I grabbed Gabrielle by the waist and she pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth, gasping. I stared, feeling my eyes still open wide.

"But you're _bleeding_," I said, dragging my hand beneath her slowly and finding more of the red substance in my palm.

"It's disgusting," she said, pulling away from me, "Stop touching it," she said, turning on the sink hastily and directing my hands under the water. I stared down at her as she washed my hands, letting her toothbrush hang at the side of her mouth.

"I told you I'd explain it later. I don't have time to go through a whole biology lesson right now." Gabby finished brushing her teeth.

"Will you please change the sheet, Loki?" she asked me again. I stood there a moment, perplexed before walking back out into our bedroom. Absently, I went into the closet and pulled out clean linens. There was blood on the quilt as well, so I took it off the bed. I brought it into the bathroom to rinse the blood off and try to prevent it from staining. Gabby was in the shower by the time I finished making the bed and throwing the quilt in the washing machine. I picked up a blue box she'd dropped on the sink.

"Tampax Pearl," I said, reading the label out loud. I heard Gabrielle laughing uncontrollably, as she poked her head out from behind the curtain. I turned around.

"Can you give one of those to me?" she asked. I stared at the box a moment.

"Loki—hurry," she said, and I started to understand that she was in fact in a hurry. I fidgeted with the box a moment and finally got it open. There were a number of wrapped up objects inside it. The plastic they were in was white with yellow designs. I handed one to Gabrielle and she kept laughing, despite how horrified I was. I listened as she unwrapped it behind the curtain where she was hidden from my view. Out of sheer curiosity, I ventured inside the box a little until I pulled out a folded piece of paper. I unwrapped it and felt my face subsequently heat up as I read the instruction manual.

"Gabby, are you okay?" I asked. There was a silence and I turned around to find the curtain finally swinging back as she stepped out of the shower and into a towel, dropping the empty white and yellow wrapper into the waste basket. She was still giggling as she stared at the box and the piece of paper in my hands.

"You are the most adorable thing when you're confused," she said. I blushed and wrapped up the paper again, tucking it back inside the box. Gabby took the box from me and pulled out a few more of what I just learned to be called tampons.

"I'm fine, Loki," she promised again, walking out of the bathroom. I scratched the back of my head and finally decided that what was happening to her was perfectly human. At times I'd forget that the women on Asgard _weren't _human. Until ten minutes ago, I'd never even imagined such an occurrence was possible in women. I hadn't quite learned everything about human women. I started to step out of the bathroom when I felt something damp on the bottom of my foot. I picked my right foot up and turned it in towards my opposite knee to find a smeared red drop on my pale skin. I blushed again and went under the sink for some Clorox wipes. I cleaned up the small trail that had followed Gabrielle into the bathroom after I panicked and pulled her out of bed. When I stepped out of the bathroom, she was dressed in purple scrubs and searching for a pair of shoes in the closet. She groaned and clutched her pelvic region. I stared down at her, feeling a sense of loss.

"I'm sorry," she said, pausing and stepping over to me, "That really scared you, didn't it? I'm surprised you didn't know what it was," she said, pushing her hand through my bed head as I nodded.

"I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

"Well, you weren't successful," I said honestly. She laughed.

"I get really heavy periods, which is why it got all over the place. Like I told you, I was taking the pill to keep it away. I got so busy with work that I forgot to refill my prescription. When you stop taking them, you bleed."

"I thought you were dying," I said calmly, closing my eyes.

"Aww," Gabrielle said. I felt her face burrow into my bare chest and she kissed it longingly and lovingly.

"I wasn't, okay?"

I held her very tightly for a moment.

"I've got to get to work," she said, pulling away at last. She kissed me and pulled a pair of boots out of the closet. Part of me still felt so worried, but I knew that Gabrielle was okay as she bustled out of our apartment. I had learned something new that morning.


End file.
